Eight Amazing Destinations Worldwide to Celebrate Mardi Gras

Get your beads ready—Mardi Gras is just around the corner!

Happening between the Twelfth Night of Christmas (January 5) and Shrove Tuesday on February 13 this year, nations worldwide celebrate the holiday with a lively carnival season.

Modern cities celebrate Mardi Gras with extravagant parades, vibrant music, and dazzling costumes, but this tradition dates back thousands of years to medieval Rome. Originally a blend of Catholic and ancient pagan harvest festivities, Mardi Gras evolved from the indulgence of Saturnalia—a grand public feast filled with gifts and continuous revelry—leading up to Lent, a 40-day fasting period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. The term 'Mardi Gras' (French for 'Fat Tuesday') originates from the practice of consuming all the fatty foods prohibited during Lent.

As Catholicism spread from Europe, so did the Mardi Gras tradition. The celebration evolved into weeks-long carnivals from mid-January to March, with each culture adding its unique twist to the Roman customs. Here are eight of the top places globally to celebrate Mardi Gras.

1. New Orleans, USA

While the first Mardi Gras in the US may have occurred in Mobile, Alabama, it's New Orleans that truly embodies the celebration. Since the event's debut in this Louisiana city in 1837, it has elevated the festivities to extraordinary heights. Long before around 1.5 million revelers fill the streets of the Big Easy, daily Mardi Gras processions wind through various neighborhoods. The highlight, however, follows a route from Napoleon Avenue down Saint Charles Avenue in the Uptown area, concluding at the edge of the French Quarter.

A big part of the excitement lies in catching the trinkets or “throws” tossed into the crowd by the krewes, the social clubs that host the parades. These goodies can include beads, snacks, stamped doubloons, or, most coveted of all, beautifully decorated Zulu coconuts. Visitors should also indulge in king cake, a spiral of cinnamon-roll dough adorned with purple, green, and gold icing—traditional colors of Mardi Gras. This iconic dessert conceals a tiny plastic baby, symbolizing the Three Kings bringing gifts to the baby Jesus. Whoever discovers the figurine is responsible for providing the next cake, keeping the celebration alive.

2. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Brazilian version of Mardi Gras is the largest carnival in the world, attracting a staggering two million people to the streets of Rio de Janeiro each year for an extravagant celebration. The festivities feature dazzling feathered showgirls, booming sound systems, and spectacular samba performances. Carnival kicks off on February 9 with lively street parties known as blocos, ranging from the family-friendly Gigantes da Lira, filled with clowns and acrobats, to the vibrant LGBT party Banda de Ipanema, and Sargento Pimenta, which puts a samba twist on Beatles classics.

All events feature live music, street food, and lots of dancing, providing an excellent chance to immerse yourself in the festivities for free. However, if you wish to attend the official parade at the Sambódromo, be sure to purchase tickets in advance. This main event showcases glittering costumes, stunning floats, and breathtaking performances from the leading samba schools, along with a special children’s parade allowing young dancers to shine.

3. Venice, Italy

Mardi Gras in Venice is generally more refined compared to the lively street parties found in other cities. The iconic Venetian masks—traditional face coverings that hide the wearer’s identity and equalize social status—are central to the festivities, which are filled with elegant masquerade balls. Attendees must purchase tickets through the festival’s website, and the dress code is more elaborate, featuring intricate period costumes. For those simply sightseeing, simple masks can be found at various stalls throughout the city.

In addition to the private galas, enchanting boat parades light up the Grand Canal at night, alongside free events in St. Mark’s Square, including costume contests, street performances, and the Maria of the Year beauty pageant. The winner, dressed as an angel, makes a spectacular descent from the bell tower to the square below on a cable, showering confetti on the cheering crowds.

4. Binche, Belgium

Located south of Brussels in Belgium’s Hainaut province, the Carnival of Binche is deeply rooted in local folklore. You might recognize its grand finale, the March of the Gilles, which occurs on Mardi Gras. Local men, dressed in clown-like costumes with wax masks, wooden clogs, and straw-stuffed outfits, parade to the main square. There, they don extravagant ostrich-feather headdresses and distribute oranges to the crowd as a token of good fortune.

Designated as a UNESCO cultural treasure, the festivities begin on the Sunday prior to Mardi Gras with a lively morning parade featuring local brass and clarinet bands. The next day highlights youth groups with another parade, a confetti battle, and a gathering at the Grand Palace known as the “rondeau of friendship.” The evening culminates in a spectacular fireworks display.

5. Sydney, Australia

In 1978, Australian gay rights activists organized a parade in Sydney to honor queerness and highlight issues affecting the community. Drawing inspiration from the street parties of New Orleans, they named it Mardi Gras, although it had little connection to pre-Lenten festivities. Even today, it doesn’t occur on a Tuesday.

Featuring hundreds of vibrant floats, sparkling outfits, and breathtaking performances, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras shares many similarities with its global counterparts but takes place a bit later, from February 16 to March 3. The 2024 celebration includes a production of the hit West End musical & Juliet, various sporting events, a dog pageant, and the official post-parade all-nighter, which has previously featured stars like Kylie Minogue, Cher, and Dua Lipa.

6. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

In the 18th century, French colonizers brought the Mardi Gras tradition to Trinidad and Tobago. They donned costumes and mimicked the dances of the enslaved Africans but prohibited them from participating in the celebrations. In response, enslaved Africans in Port of Spain created their own events known as “Canboulay,” where they would imitate their masters in “mas” (short for masquerade). Iconic characters from this era, like Dame Lorraine, who satirized a wealthy planter’s wife, still make appearances today.

After the emancipation of enslaved people in 1838, Canboulay became more vibrant and assertive, resisting multiple attempts to suppress it. When French colonizers banned drumming, participants turned to bamboo sticks and later steel pans for music. The calypso and soca genres, characterized by steel drums, emerged during this time and remain popular. Stick fighting continues to be a part of the festivities as well. Attendees still engage in mas, with each masquerade band selecting a theme for the parade. Visitors can join in by signing up for a mas band and purchasing the group’s elaborate costumes.

Numerous ticketed parties known as fetes occur in Port of Spain. However, you can forgo the fancy attire for J’Ouvert, where revelers gather at 4 AM on Shrove Monday to greet the sunrise while throwing mud, paint, water, and clay at one another. Get ready to embrace the mess!

7. Basel, Switzerland

Fasnacht, the Swiss carnival, is recognized on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list for its emphasis on social and political themes. It’s akin to a satirical magazine coming to life and kicks off in complete darkness on the Monday after Ash Wednesday (February 19 this year). The early morning parade, known as Morgenstreich, starts at 4 AM. All public lights along the route are turned off, allowing beautifully hand-painted lanterns to illuminate the streets. Afterward, festival-goers enjoy a breakfast of onion-and-cheese tarts or Mehlsuppe (a hearty soup made from beef broth, brown onions, and toasted flour) before admiring the lanterns on display at the Munsterplatz for the remainder of the festival.

Fasnacht in Basel lasts exactly 72 hours, concluding at 4 AM on Thursday. Before that, two grand street parades, known as cortège, take place on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Around 10,000 participants showcase their themed costumes in groups or “cliques,” accompanied by floats, brass gugge bands, and horse-drawn carriages. Be advised: cliques take their costumes very seriously, and organizers recommend that spectators refrain from dressing up. Instead, show your support by acquiring a blaggedde, a brooch-like badge that features a unique design each year.

8. Oruro, Bolivia

The small mining town of Oruro is known as the folklore capital of Bolivia. Each year, it attracts up to 400,000 visitors for its carnival, held from February 8 to 13. This Mardi Gras celebration honors the Virgin of the Candelaria del Socavón, or Virgen del Socavón, the patron saint of Oruro miners. Legend has it that she aided a mortally wounded bandit, renowned for robbing the rich to help the poor, enabling him to return home to die miraculously.

The festivities revolve around dancing, vividly reenacting beloved folk tales. With 48 groups of dancers and musicians, they perform the same routines annually. Beginning at 7 AM, the event spans a 4 km route from Bolívar St to the Socavón cathedral in the town center, lasting over 20 hours. The highlight is the Diablada, the devil’s dance, led by Lucifer in a horned, papier-mâché mask, showcasing the struggle between good and evil through seven acts, with marching bands accompanying. Expect water fights at the carnival, so be prepared with a rain poncho, as you might be hit by a water balloon or sprayed with foam, and perhaps even have a bucket poured on you from above. Afterward, treat yourself to a refreshing glass of chicha, the country’s tangy, corn-based fermented drink.